Remember the murder of Marielle Franco and understand why the investigation took six years

Councilwoman Marielle Franco (PSOL -RJ) was murdered on the night of March 14, 2018, in the center of Rio de Janeiro (RJ). She was returning by car to her house, in the Tijuca neighborhood, north of Rio, after participating in a meeting with black women in Lapa. The councilor was 38 years old and was accompanied by driver Anderson Gomes, 39, and parliamentary advisor Fernanda Chaves, 43.

At Praça da Bandeira, on Rua Joaquim Palhares, a silver Chevrolet Cobalt pulled up to the right of the vehicle in which Marielle was riding. One of the occupants fired nine times at the parliamentarian, hitting the window and part of the right rear door of the vehicle. The car drove a few more meters and the killers fled. Marielle was shot three times in the head and once in the neck, while Gomes was shot three times in the back. Both died at the scene. The advisor was injured by shrapnel.

The weapon used in the crime was a 9 mm pistol, according to forensics. The police believed, at the time, that the vehicle had been followed by the Cobalt where the killers were since it left Lapa, around 9:30 pm.

For investigators, there was evidence that the crime had been premeditated. This is because, based on the direction of the shots fired at the vehicle, the killers knew where the councilor was sitting, even though the car’s windows were covered with dark film. Normally, the councilor did not use to ride in the vehicle in the back seat.

In March 2019, former police officers Ronnie Lessa and Élcio Queiroz were arrested by the Rio Civil Police. Lessa, identified as responsible for the shots that killed the councilor, and Queiroz, suspected of driving the car used in the crime.

And this Sunday, March 24, six years after the murder and five days after the approval of Lessa’s plea, the investigation approaches its conclusion, with the arrest of federal deputy Chiquinho Brazão and the counselor at the Rio Domingos Court of Auditors. Brazão, suspected of being the masterminds, and police chief Rivaldo Barbosa, who headed the Rio Civil Police and allegedly acted to protect the brothers. Defenses for Domingos Brazão and Rivaldo Barbosa deny their participation in the crime.

In a press conference after the arrest, the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, stated that for five years the investigations carried out primarily by the Rio Civil Police were “unsuccessful”, at the same time that agents involved in the crime “managed to obstruct the progress of investigations.”

Still in November 2018, the year of the murder, the then Minister of Public Security Raul Jungmann saw the risk of obstruction of justice. At the time, he announced that the PF would begin investigating the existence of a criminal group that was organized to disrupt and impede the murder investigation.

In December 2023, the then Minister of Justice Flávio Dino declared that the investigation into the case was in its final phase, after having been intensified that year, but criticized the previous investigations which, according to him, had resulted in “parallel investigations ”.

Marielle’s death triggered a wave of protests in Rio de Janeiro and in the country’s main cities: São Paulo (SP), Salvador (BA), Belo Horizonte (MG) and Recife (PE). It also caused commotion on social media, being the most talked about topic on the X network (formerly Twitter) and gaining prominence in the international press, such as in the American newspaper The New York Timesfrom English The Guardian and French Le Monde.

The crime had repercussions on United Nations (UN) and in the international community. Entities like Amnesty International, International Transparency It is Human Rights Watch demanded, at the time, a quick response from the Brazilian government.